NIAMEY (Reuters) -The International Committee of the Red Cross says it has suspended its operations in Niger after the West African nation’s government ordered the closure of its offices, citing alleged collusion with armed groups.

Niger junta leader Abdourahamane Tchiani said in an interview with state television in late May that the organisation had been expelled in February, accusing it of meeting and collaborating with Islamist insurgent leaders.

The ICRC denied the allegations.

“To fulfil its humanitarian mandate to protect and assist victims of armed conflict, the ICRC engages in a spoken or written dialogue with all parties to a conflict,” it said in a statement on Thursday.

The organisation said it “never provides those parties with financial, logistical or other support.”

The

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